CHT: The Ending

Our last day of CHT started with our Sunday services in an upper room of the hotel, right across from the pool windows. It is so neat to be able to go to church with all your friends. And its even cooler when you get to hear all of their testimonies. We did another testimony meeting and it was really cool. We finished there, had breakfast, and started on our 16 hour journey home... long day ahead. I sat by Parker Poulson, Weston Prisbrey, and Preston Manwill during the various legs home. The day was full of sleeping, movies, and rest stops. It was sad to see all my friends go, especially the ones from Arizona because those will be the hardest to ever see again. They said they are four hours from Blanding, which is 5 or 6 hours from Richfield or 3 hours from St. George, which is still 3 hours from Richfield. They were really cool, and I am going to miss them dearly. We said good-bye to them in Denver, and we also lost our bus drivers, who needed to switch drivers to not over due the driving. I was on bus 1 (surprise, surprise) and the driver on it is Phil, who also helped with the confirmations during the baptisms for the dead. Even though I never really got to know him, he really loves all of us that were on the trip. We drove head-long into the Rocky Mountains, and to break from the routine of film and rest, the Henrys pulled out a trivia game called Mental Floss. I came in second, and it was kinda fun. After a few more rest stops and bus changes, we rolled into the tabernacle parking lot. I said my final farewells to a few of my friends, loaded up my car, and took off. Alan asked for a ride home, so after dropping him off, I hit the highway and shot to Sigurd. I got home about 3 in the morning, and after I brought my things in from my car, I set up a bed on the floor (because my bed wasn't made) and went to bed. I really loved CHT, and waking up the next day with out a schedule to fulfill or roommates to wake up was kinda weird; it made the past few weeks seem like a dream. It hit me yesterday during church that I probably won't see many of these people, my friends, ever again, even some of my own class mates. A scripture that Lauren Bytheway shared in seminary crept to mind and gave me comfort. D&C 130:2 talks about how the same sociality which exists on this earth will exist in the next life, except it will be coupled with eternal glory. It assures me that I will be able to see these people, my friends, again, if not in this life, but the next, and in the next life, I will be able to have so much more time to see them again and not have to worry about travel time or gas money. It kinda seems superficial, but friendships rock. Now its back to the normal life and the official start of summer!

Crazy Weather= Fun Times

I didn't get to blog last night because of the, well, intense events that occurred, so I will hopefully (and probably easily) remember everything that went on yesterday. I got up, ate breakfast, loaded my things to the bus, and we took off. We left at about 7, and they told us we would be lucky to get there by 6:30 that evening, so I was prepared for another long travel day. I slept the first part, until the rest stop, then they played the movie "Dreamer" which is an ok movie. When we arrived in Council Bluffs, we stopped for lunch and to see the Winter Quarters Visitors Center and Pioneer Cemetery. We saw the Pioneer Cemetery first, and the missionaries taking us on the tour showed us the shackels the pioneers used to keep the horses from being stolen and the two-hanger-water-finding trick, except they used it to find graves. Then on to the visitors center, which was really cool because it had a bunch of displays about what it would have been like back then in the condition the pioneers were in and what they would have had. They showed us a cabin about the size of my bedroom and said it was about an 8-person cabin. Time rushed us out of there, and we were back on the road. We watched "Secondhand Lions" and I only saw part of it because I kept dozing off. We were in Grand Island, Nebraska at about 6:30, and the bus ride didn't seem nearly as long as they said it was. The hotel has a crazy set up, but easy to figure out. We had a decent dinner at the hotel, then we chilled in the halls and did whatever. Everyone decided they wanted to get on the internet and my laptop was widely used for that reason. Then Jamie, Brennon and I decided to go on a walk around, maybe stop at the gas station. We had a good time. It started raining on us and we just played in the puddles and got each other wet. I was running to get Brennon and instead of the water shooting from under my foot to him, it splashed all up my body and drenched me. The awesome thing was the lighting show. That was incredible. There were bolts going off left and right. We were drenched when we got back inside. We messed around in the halls for a little bit before we changed, and the funniest thing happened. Kallie Thomas is in a contest with her sister to see who can hold the most guys' hands. Jokingly, Brennon and I got on each side and added to her count. Right when Brennon and Kallie latched, the St. John's seminary bro walked by and it was very funny; impecable timing. Then I changed and visited with the others until we were kicked out because of curfew. But I ran into the St. John's boys' room and we partied for a while. The rain kept up and the lighting show was getting even more glorious, with brighter forks and louder thunders. They had a glass door that opened to an outside courtyard so we stepped outside to get an even better view. Just then, Bro Monson saw us through another window and asked me to go over to him. Apparently, the leaders knew I wasn't in my room and were looking all over for me... ha ha whoops. So I went back to my room to enjoy the show. We also have a glass door to the courtyard, and it was kept open most of the night so we could get the full effect if you could call it that. We also have an adjoining room with Rhett Peterson, Parker Poulson, Brian Waters, and Jeff Brown and that door was open most of the night as well. As we were watching the show, huge hailstones- just larger than golf balls- pelted from the sky, hitting the river that had formed outside and splashing. It was another amazing show. I stepped outside my room (sneaky sneaky) to see the other side of the hotel, where the parking lot is, and there were car alarms going off all across the lot. The hail stopped shortly after, but the storm kept pouring down. There were several guys with outside doors and we played in the large puddles and artificial river that had formed. It was such a good time. At about 2 in the morning, I went to Tuttle, Luke, Jake, and Brain Demille's room and we watched Man vs. Wild. Then at 2:30, Al and I walked back to our beds and fell asleep. I figured the blog could wait til morning.

Chillin' in Nauvoo

I forgot to spray the waffle iron, so my breakfast came in messy pieces. After sleeping in (if you call getting up just before 8 sleeping in) Nauvoo was left for us to wander as we please. I hooked up with Ashley, Jamie, and Brennon again and we walked down to old Nauvoo to stop at just a few more places. We hit the brick display, I being the only one who didn't go the first day, so we could get some bricks. Then we revisited the grave sites of Hyrum, Emma, and Joseph and stopped at the red brick store, both places are owned by the Community of Christ. Ashley and I played checkers, and I got kicked in the butt. We hit up the bus to take us back to the hotel to get changed for Baptisms. I buttoned up my shirt and tied my tie then walked down to Brennon's room and hung out til noon, when we loaded the bus down to the temple. The temple is so beautiful. As you walk inside, there are deep cherry stained chair rails and molding that matched the desk where they checked our recommends. There was an open door in the lobby, and inside was a the assembly room. It was made almost exactly like the Kirtland Temple, with the priesthood stands on both sides. Then the sister took us downstairs to the chapel, where we waited to get our temple clothes. They had white bound hymn books and scriptures, which I am rather jealous and I would like some:) ha ha Anyway they called us up and we got our suits then changed. We returned to the chapel and I sat down at the piano and played background music, which I love to do. Then we had a meeting, starting with they hymn "The Spirit of God" and concluding with a small talk from a councilor from the temple presidency. He told us of the hymn we sang and that President Hinckley said when the MoTab sang it at the Nauvoo Temple dedication, angels sang with them. It was a simple, yet cool meeting. Then they took us to be confirmed, then baptized. Its a really pretty font; its larger than the Manti temple and had an entrance and exit stairway. Jacob Henry baptized me, then I showered and got redressed. Outside the dressing room, another sister missionary showed us the spiral staircase, which lead from the bottom floor to the fifth floor (the top). We only walked up one flight, then they lead us out through the lobby and back to the world. Austin Anderson and I walked back to the motel to change and grab our wallets for lunch. While walking back down main (its actually Mulholland street, but its the main street) we saw a little store that sold "Walking Tacos" and was passing out free lemonade. We stopped in to see what they had, and it was really fun. They were really nice people; the one lady had a broken leg and had to trudge around in a wheelchair. The lemonade was great, and the walking tacos are bags of doritoes crushed with hamburger, lettuce, tomatoes, and other taco ingredients all mixed together. It was really good. Then we visited a bunch of other shops, and I feel like I spent my life savings today, but I didn't really ha ha. I more or less dragged Austin around to the different stores because all he wanted was a picture of the temple. Then we turned around and walked back to the motel and I took a wonderful nap. But I woke up late for dinner, so I walked down the road again to the buffet and had a pretty good dinner too. Our group reformed and we killed time til the show started. At 7, "Sunset on the Mississippi" started and we were there to watch all the missionaries serving in Nauvoo dance and sing and perform various acts. They had elderly missionaries and young missionaries all putting on the show. My favorite part was "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which was a live string band (two guitars and two fiddles) playing that great song. It was amazing. The fiddlers were playing some hardcore riffs and it was awesome. Right after that show ended, the BYU Fold Dancers performed their show, and we stayed for that too. I love to watch that kind of stuff. Then we walked back to the hotel, but all along the way the four of us were cracking jokes and having a great time. We split to our various rooms, where I found my luggage a mess because, well, I am a messy person. Right after I finish, I am going to pack because I don't think I could do it in the morning. But now everyone in my room is asleep so I will have to do it quitely too.

A Fun Travel Day

My shower this morning sucked very badly! It was nice and warm at the beginning, but because I got in just about the time everyone else would, it went ice cold and I had to bail early because it was seriously ice cold. I was assigned on bus #1 for like the fifth time in a row and sat by Lenae from St. Johns, Arizona and we had good time. After scripture study, during which I was slightly dozing off, I placed my pillow between my head and the window and slept. At one point I woke up and looked over on Lenae's lap was a blue case that I thought was my scripture case so I grabbed it and said thanks for not letting my scriptures fall off my lap, but then I realized I had finished my daily reading and the case she had was her make up case... ha ha kinda embarassing, but I blame it on the drowsiness:) On the bus, we watched "Miracle" and "The Rookie." The first one I really liked but the second one I tried to sleep so I only watched part of it. For lunch, we stopped in the middle of a construction site with a Hardee's on one side and a Subway clear on the other side of the construction, and the majority of us braved the orange cones and got a sub for lunch. I ate with Tiffany Whymer, who turns out to be a really cool girl. We again walked through the construction to go to Wal-mart to search for coloring books and crayons for her and a novel to read for me. They had what she wanted, but all the novels they had were love stories like Nora Roberts.... blah. Then we reloaded the buses with new seating charts, but I barely moved from my first seat. We drove a few more hours then landed in Nauvoo really early, early enough to go see a little musical about Nauvoo that some missionaries are called to put on in the visitor's center. It was really cheesy, but the music was really good and I loved some of the harmonies. We came back to the hotel for dinner then the night was open for us. Alan, Cody, Brennon from Arizona, and I walked down main street Nauvoo to the temple to get some cool pics. There was a crowd of others from the tour in front of the temple and when we walked in, we heard one-armed Porter Ellot on the phone saying something to the effect of I am called to serve in the Los Angelas Spanish Speaking Mission. Very cool he was on Nauvoo Temple grounds finding that out. We turned around and stopped at the only shop left open that late at night. It was a very cool place. When we left, it was dark, so we walked back to the temple to get some night pictures, which were the bomb diggity. After I got back to the hotel, I put on some shorts and found Brennon in his room and we talked for a little bit. He is a pretty cool kid and we are very alike. Then Ashley and Jamie came down and we went outside, which had changed from 90 degrees and humid to comfortable with a slight breeze. Then we were sent back to bed because of curfew and I filled out a couple of post cards: one to Sibil Warnock because she served a mission out here, and one to Emma. I figured they would like it. We get to have tomorrow all to ourselves and we get to do baptisms:) I don't know what I am going to do with myself!

My favorite day!

In addition to the regular breakfast routine, there was a really awesome type of rain falling. It was a very light sprinkle, and when anybody asked about it, it was referred to as 'misting,' which was very appropriate. Very cool. I rode bus #1 again, with Tiphani Robinson, aka "Tiph-dawg", as my bus buddy and we drove just 9 miles to Kirtland to see the various sites there. There was another three-site rotation, and we started at the LDS Visitors center, then moved onto the Whitney home and Store. Newel K. Whitney and Ann, his wife, were very prosperous and had a fine house, but what made this my favorite site and one of the greatest days was the store. It was really awesome because you could sense how it was back then- about 80% is original and the artifacts that were in there gave it a very genuine look and authentic feel. There was the actual store that was very vibrant with the various items for sale, then the storage/office room. The sister missionaries were very detailed and friendly, too, which made the tour that much better. Then upstairs to Joseph Smith's office and translation room. It was really interactive, and the group I was with were excellent. Then my favorite part- the School of the Prophets. It was a small, cramped room where the Apostles met to become gentlemen. They were taught the ways of the Lord and principles of the Gospel and, because most were raised on farms and uneducated, they were taught arithmatic and foreign languages, like Latin and Hebrew. But the room was a very sacred room. Joseph Smith prophesied that if they were prepared and ready that heavenly messengers would visit them. The room was a lot like a temple; I even think the sisters said that beginning ordinances of the temple were performed in there. Being clean, prepared, and worthy were so crucial to being able to take of the Spirit there that Joseph would give mini-temple recommend interviews to those entering. We were able to sit in there for a long while because there wasn't anybody behind us. The sisters told us of the different events that happened there, like the revelation of the Word of Wisdom and even the visitation of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in vision. Then they gave us reflection time then we sang "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet." I had been having troubles, I guess you could call it, feeling the spirit very strongly and that room broke that. We finished at the first stop by visiting the ashery and woodmill, then we drove to the Kirtland Temple. At first I wasn't looking forward to going to the temple because I have been to other religion's houses of worship and you get a void in your chest because you can't feel the Spirit, so that is what I was expecting. But Mindy asked a question at the store, wondering if the LDS Church would ever get that temple back. Brother Campbell answered that it doesn't necessarily matter who owns the earthly title, but that it was dedicated and accepted by Heavenly Father and, in the end, its His. That changed my mindset and I was more open to the Spirit that was there, even if it wasn't the full potential. We started our second stop in the RLDS (changed to the Community of Christ in 199_, but RLDS is easier to type) visitors center, where we watched their movie about their church. It was funny the difference in quality between the LDS and RLDS movies, but besides the point ha ha. Then we walked into the temple and took the tour. We started in the second floor, which is in the likeness of the main floor, in that the two opposite sides of the rectangular room had the seats for the offices of the priesthood. The lady tour guide (who was ordained to the office of a priest) then took us down stairs and talked (vaguely) of the visions of Joseph Smith in the temple. Questions were raised consistently because of their peculiarity and the aweful closeness of their religion to ours, and answers were later clarified by Brother Campbell. We then sang "The Spirit of God" like the saints did for the opening meeting, and I was privileged to play the piano for it. The tour ended, which was a shame because I wanted to go to the third floor to see Joseph Smith's office and, in doing so, also seeing the rumored holy of holies. Brother Christensen (in seminary my junior year) told us of his experiences up there and he said it was truely amazing. Then we drove to lunch at the Issac Morely farm, then did the tour there. It wasn't much, but it was still pretty cool. The grove of trees surrounding an old cabin (the cabin's use is important and relevant to church history, but it has slipped my mind, as does the name of the cabin. I do remember that Joseph Smith had other priesthood holders bear their testimonies and the Savior did appear there.) is nicknamed the Sacred Grove of Ohio. Then we drove to a stone quarry where the saints got the stones to build the temple, but it was a short stop. We met up with the other buses at the LDS Visitors Center and took off for Holiday City, Ohio, which was just a two hour drive. I slept on the bus and watched "Cars" and slept. When we got here, we had a magnificent dinner with really good chicken and pot roast! Very excited. Then we had time for ourselves, so I just chilled like customary. Then we had a FHE type meeting where the leaders and chaperones put on a "melodrama" which was rather funny, but we couldn't take any pictures ha ha. I enjoyed it. Brother Jenkins played his guitar and we sang not only primary songs, but a little Johnny Cash too. After that, I mingled, hopping from a game of scum to more guitar playing and singing, and from that to a game of speed (like spit, but different). They kicked us out and sent us to bed when 10:30 rolled along and, after checking my email and other things, logged on and blogged:)

Another Travel Day...

Today was just another long day on the bus. The breakfast was much better kept up and I actually got to eat something. Then onto the bus for I think it was a 7 hour drive to Ohio. We had the occasional rest stop, and I just sat in the very back of the bus or laid down on the floor. This routine was broken up by a visit to the John Johnson farm, which was really really cool. This place was magnificent; the Johnsons had been saving up for ten years to build this home, and when they did, they built it fancy. They used bright colored paint, like teal and coral, to brighten up the rooms (even though they just painted the molding and left the walls white) and even did a design on the molding in the dining room. The home was also the HQ of the Church for the year that Joseph Smith lived there. Upstairs held Joseph's office, where the vision that we know as D&C 76 was given. Heavenly Father and His Son appeared there, and the testimony of Joseph and Sidney Ridgon in section 76 is one of my favorite scriptures. This house is also the setting for the well known incident where Joseph was ripped from the bed, tarred and feathered, his son dieing from exposure because of the door left open, then delivering a sermon the next day, amidst the many wounds in his body and mob members in the congregation. It was a really cool site, and the sister missionary was funny. Then we drove (no surprise) the rest of the way into Ohio. When we hit Milton(?), the bus pulled into our rooms and we dropped our stuff off before going to another buffet for dinner. It wasn't bad food, and I love the group I am hanging out with. Its a hardcore laugh fest. After dinner, we walked to the dollar store next to the buffet and messed with the cheap items on sale. Outside, it started to rain, and when it rains out here, it pours. In less then a minute, there was probably a half of an inch of water running down the streets. At this motel, there is a gigantic pool, probably the size of a regular public pool, with fountains shooting into the water and enough room for all 151 of us on the trip. Of course I had to go swim and we played sharks and minnows, marco polo, and helped build a five man tower, where there was Mindy Erickson, Kelsha and McCall from NS, and Luke on each other's shoulders then Tyler Tuttle would try and get then all on his shoulder. That was fun. Then McCall had a underwater camera, so we were messing with that too. Mostly, pool fun is just messing around, and we do a lot of that on this trip. Now its off to bed with already asleep roommates:)

Washington DC and Gettysburg

Today ended up being another really long day, and not of long bus rides. Today's start sucked because the hotel-lady-person-whoever was really slow in putting food out, so there was a huge line then the food was gone in ten seconds, so I was stuck with a bowl of toasty o's and that was not filling. It was a two hour drive to DC, and I tried to sleep but it was very uncomfortable because I didn't have the window and it was not a fun ride. When we got there, Ashley Harris, Austin Anderson, Jamie Ellsworth from St. George, Brennon Hancock from Arizona, and I broke off and walked the streets of our nation's capitol. We walked into a place to find a map, and of course they had to check the backpacks and it was really annoying because all we wanted was a map! Thats what we get I guess, but we wanted to find the National Archives Building to see the Declaration and Constitution. We wandered the streets and kinda almost got lost, but we found our way. But when we got to the Archives building, the line was like 2 hours long, no joke, and so we decided to walk to the National Spy Museum, which was a little bit of a walk away. When we get there, we discover the tours are $18 a tour and the tours are only an hour long, so we ditched. The only good thing out there was the Subway, which made for an inexpensive dinner:) Everyone else had to pay a lot for their food. ha ha. Actually, the best part of DC was lunch just because we were all really annoyed that nothing was working out, but we had a good time at lunch. After that, we decided to go to the Air and Space Smithsonian. On our walk, we stopped at some street vendors that had some pretty cool stuff and sweet clothes. We just messed around til we had to get on the bus. The bus took us to the WWII memorial, which I really like, then we walked to the Vietnam memorial and the Korean memorial with the Lincoln memorial in the background. Afterwards, we drove back to Gettysburg to tour there because we didn't have any time last night. We mostly walked where Picket's charge was, then we got on the bus and rode to the Gettysburg visitors center which was really cool. They had a walk-through that had everything you could think of in it and, my favorite, interactive computer screens that depicted each day of the Battle of Gettysburg and showed where the battalions and regiments were and all the stats about them. But we were rushed for time there and we had to get back on the bus so they could take us to Little Big Top and other monuments too far to walk to. Then we made our way to the hotel and chilled the rest of the night. I played cards with Jake and Lenae from Hurricane and went swimming at the highly clorinated pool. Then we were kicked out (because the pool closed) and sent to our rooms (because of curfew). Now I am going to write some post cards and go to bed!

One of the Longest Days so Far

Sunday was really cool. We had church at 7 in the morning, of which I played the piano and spaced off choosing songs, telling my chorister he was conducting, and just being prepared overall. It was a rough time, especially when I realized that I had pages switched for the musical number I was accompanying. I gained a testimony of prayer though, so that was pretty cool. After church, Jake, Luke, Al and I walked down to the grove again for one more time. Then we hopped on the bus and drove 9 hours with little to no excitement. The frequent rest stops were the only break from the routine. We arrived at Gettysburg and ate at General Pickets Buffet, which sucked hardcore. The roast beef was really pink and cold and everything had a funky taste to it. I did enjoy the salad bar and dessert bar though. Then we went upstairs to a gift shop, where Nick Jorgensen helped me realize that we came here on our 8th grade trip. Good times. Then we drove to the hotel, which is the worst one we have stayed in so far. Its small, no elevator, and the service is crappy. Several people have complained of unclean rooms and hair in the bathroom, and the front desk people just said we can't do anything about it. That ticks me off a little bit, but what can you do? We have a big day in Washington DC tomorrow, so got to get some sleep:)